Better than Maybe
by fowl68
Summary: Three of those years had been spent in war. The other two…well, Naruto had always been an avid trickster and everyone knows that the greatest trick ever pulled was making the entire world believe you don’t exist.


**Disclaimer:** So don't own!

**Author's Note:** Jello, everyone! Sorry for not updating a lot of my stuff, but things have been hectic and writer's block always comes when things are hectic. This is the first break in the block practically since school started. I've been watching all of Gilmore Girls over again and it makes me feel a little old watching it. Mostly because I remember a lot of the bands and movies that they talk about. NSYNC for one. And the Backstreet Boys. Back when they were popular. Now I feel older….*sob*.

Anyways, watching the season 2 finale gave me some inspiration for this, as did Secondhand Serenades' song Goodbye. So here this probably angst-ridden, bittersweet story is.

-~-~-~-~

"_Officers make decisions out of duty. Friends make decisions out of loyalty."-Anonymous_

-~-~-~-~-

There's a lot of maybe's in the world. _Maybe_ I'll get take-out for dinner or _maybe _I'll be in the mood for a spicy chicken, mayo and tomato sandwich. But those were innocent maybe's. Maybe's of people who don't abandon their friends and still like to smile at the little things of the world.

Those maybe's had been gone for a long time in their life.

Sasuke needed to stop thinking like that. _Their_ life. There was no _their_ anymore. There were two separate people with separate paths that they had to learn how to walk alone. Or, Sasuke did. Naruto could walk his path of life with whoever chose to walk it with him.

And Sasuke had to leave. He had to leave that village full of powerful sun and afternoon rain; full of trust and shared days. And Naruto had stood across from him and there had been confusion in his eyes. He hadn't understood why Sasuke had to leave. Maybe he never would.

But Sasuke had seen Naruto's incredible potential these last few months. Had seen hints of the man he would become. And there was no place for him in that future full of laughter and a general sense of home.

And just _maybe_ if Naruto had told him that leaving was wrong _(Because he never did. Not in the whole time they were talking and yelling and wishing that if _**just maybe **_things were different that they wouldn't be going through this. Naruto had told him not to go, but he never said he was wrong for leaving)_ then maybe Sasuke would have been able to come back.

Because maybe things were better this way.

* * *

It was hard to believe that they were really standing here, in the middle of God knew where, doing this. Because they should have been at home, where it wasn't so damn cold and the snow wasn't getting caught in their hair and this wouldn't feel so damned impersonal.

To ask _why_ had never occurred to Naruto. He understood the why's, the how's and what's' the when's and who's. He just never told him not to do it.

"I can't come back." Sasuke was saying, his voice lower than the blonde remembered. "It wouldn't do anyone any good."

"It would do you some good. Me too."  
Sasuke's facial expression was unreadable, but Naruto had learned a long time ago to not pay any attention to the facial expression, but to the voice and the eyes. And right now, there was something very sad and a little pitying in them. "No, it really wouldn't do either of us good."

"Tell me why." There was no doubt of it being anything less of a gently firm demand. Almost immediately after he said that, Naruto knew that Sasuke _couldn't _explain exactly what he saw with those sharp eyes of his.

But Sasuke, being who he was, would try to explain anyways. "They don't want me there."  
"And that's stopped you before?" Naruto arched and eyebrow, a trick he'd learned from the man standing in front of him.

Sasuke didn't reply, but from the way his lips were slowly beginning to look vaguely bluish and the way his own body was beginning to feel very distant and numb, Naruto figured that they were better off taking the conversation somewhere inside.

Or maybe sometime else.

* * *

The next time they found each other, it was six years later in an alley. Three of those years had been spent in war. The other two…well, Naruto had always been an avid trickster and everyone knows that the greatest trick ever pulled was making the entire world believe you don't exist.

Sometimes, he thinks he did too good a job.

And it's been at least two years since the end of the war. Since they watched friends bleed out in their arms. As they sat outside hospital rooms, hating the way that never-ending flat tone reverberated through the room.

It's been two years since the world began to believe that shinobi never were.

And now there's a festival commemorating the end of the war for those that never fought, never watched it rain life's blood; never saw the dirt turn a terrible rusty red color from the blood seeped into it. And Naruto had kept his head down, a hat shielding his bright hair and dark, long-sleeved shirts hid the scars and bought a plate of dango before retreating into an alley. These days, the hustle and bustle of crowds was constricting.

Footsteps. Not quite there, like a shadow. He hadn't heard footsteps like that in two years. Lifting his eyes from his meal, he saw a silhouette moving towards him. As the person neared, a disbelieving smile threatened to split Naruto's face.  
"That you, teme?"

"Almost didn't recognize you, dobe." And the achingly familiar person with that low voice took a seat so that their shoulders were just touching and reached over to steal a stick of dango.

"Right back at you." Naruto reached up to touch Sasuke's dark locks, cut short so that they just barely brushed the tops of his ears. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Cut it, obviously."  
"With what, a razor?"

"And it probably still looks better than yours."  
Naruto scowled playfully at his smirking (still after all these years) best friend. And the how's, the why's and the things left unsaid didn't matter anymore.

Because maybe here in this dank alley with a shared plate of dango and changed appearances with the rest of the world celebrating one of many tragedies of theirs, things were finally better this way.

-~-~-~-~-

**A/N:** This came out nothing the way I thought it to be. But I rather like it. Been moving most of the day. My sister and her daughter are moving back in, so there's a lot of extra crap in the house. And mornings are certainly going to be interesting, considering four of us have to get out of the house by seven with two available bathrooms.

Ne, anyways, thanks for reading. Appreciate it, as always.


End file.
